A Hostel weekend box office

The weekend's early estimates are in, and for the first time in nearly a month neither 'King Kong' or 'The Chronicles of Narnia' is number one. Instead, horror fans turned out in force to support one of the best reviewed horror films in months, Eli Roth's 'Hostel'. The first movie of 2006 to take number one, the $4.8 million budgeted movie opened with a whopping $20 million weekend take. Not a bad bit of instant profit for a cheaply made splatter flick, even one endorsed by Quentin Tarantino.

'Hostel's' nearest competition was predictably, 'The Chronicles of Narnia' and 'King Kong'. 'Narnia' continued to dominate the big monkey, coming in at number 2 with a $15.4 million take to 'Kong' third place $12.4 million. 'Narnia' has already more than made back its production costs, while 'Kong' is well on its way to doing so. The uber-monkey cost a little over $200 million to make and its domestic receipts so far total $192 million.

The week's other new releases didn't fare nearly as well as 'Hostel'. Adam Sandler endorsed comedy 'Grandma's Boy' couldn't even manage to make it into the top ten. Instead, it landed in 13th place with only $2.8 million, guaranteeing it a quick trip to the bottom of your local Blockbuster's DVD shelves. Worse though was Uwe Boll's 'BloodRayne', a film which for some reason isn't being reported. Most box office news organizations seem to have forgotten the movie even exists, though it opened in nearly 1,000 theaters this weekend. The unadvertised film from a man widely regarded as the worst filmmaker in modern cinema will likely slip out of theaters as quietly as it slipped in, unnoticed by moviegoers and media alike.

Outside of new releases, this was a weekend of big expansion for limited release Oscar contenders. 'Munich' has been out for several weeks now, but it went wide for the first time Friday. The results were mixed. The movie made $7.5 million, good enough to place number 6, but with a $70 million price tag it'll have a tough time breaking even. Unusual for a movie from the likes of Steven Spielberg, especially one being so heavily touted as his best work in decades. If a film from Hollywood's biggest director at the peak of his powers can't get audiences interested, you can't expect more from a movie's like 'Casanova'. The Heath Ledger woman wooer romanced its way into 1,000 theaters and brought in $4 million for the weekend.

The real Oscar contending success continues to be Ang Lee's heavily touted 'Brokeback Mountain'. It's slow release into the nations theaters continued this weekend with a bump into 483 cinemas. That was enough to earn it ninth place in the box office and the top ten's highest per-screen-average of $11,904.

Here's a more detailed look at the early estimates for this weekend's top ten earners here in the United States:

Weekend Box Office Top Ten
January 6 – January 8, 2006

1. Hostel - $20,100,000 *
2. The Chronicles of Narnia - $15,427,000 ($247,561,000)
3. King Kong - $12,466,000 ($192,522,000)
4. Fun with Dick and Jane - $12,200,000 ($81,359,000)
5. Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - $8,300,000 ($66,421,000)
6. Munich - $7,455,000 ($25,239,000)
7. Memoirs of a Geisha - $6,000,000 ($39,751,000)
8. Rumor Has It - $5,881,000 ($2,126,000)
9. Brokeback Mountain - $5,750,000 ($22,460,000)
10. The Family Stone - $4,625,000 ($53,193,000)

* Denotes new release. Source:Box Office Mojo